Wednesday, July 07, 2010

BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward told the BBC Sunday that the cut-and-cap maneuver is now collecting 420,000 gallons of oil a day - 40 percent more than it was collecting Saturday.

The improvement raises hope that the containment cap now fitted atop the well might successfully collect as many as 630,000 gallons of oil daily - the highest amount that tanker vessels on the surface can collect.

Mr. Hayward bullishly said he thought the cap was now collecting "the majority, probably the vast majority of the oil."